Senators get jump on flat Penguins

PITTSBURGH — For one night, the Penguins' playoff experience meant little. Peter Regin and Erik Karlsson scored in their playoff debuts, and goalie Brian Elliott, in his first playoff start, made 17 saves as the Senators began their first-round series with the defending Stanley Cup champions with a 5-4 victory Wednesday.

"(Regin and Karlsson) just feed off one another," said wing Chris Neil, who also scored. "If one scores, the other one's got to score to match. They room together; they're inseparable. We call them the twins."

Though Elliott allowed four goals on 21 shots, coach Cory Clouston was pleased with his performance. "I thought at times he made some real key saves," Clouston said. "At times he might have looked a little bit nervous, but the most important thing is we got the win."

For the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin scored twice after penalties on Regin, the first barely 3 minutes into the game, but they looked mostly flat and uninspired for long periods.

Sidney Crosby had three assists but was held without a shot until getting two in the third, and the Penguins were held to one shot during a stretch lasting 21 minutes, 53 seconds.

"We had a few chances around the net that just didn't go in," Crosby said. "That's going to be the difference. You can always say 'What if,' but at the end of the day, you have to find ways to win, and we weren't able to."

First Period—1, Pittsburgh, Malkin 1 (Gonchar, Crosby), 3:03 (pp). 2, Ottawa, Regin 1 (Spezza, Alfredsson), 8:45. 3, Ottawa, Neil 1 (Volchenkov, Kelly), 14:08. Penalties—Regin, Ott (hooking), 2:50; Fisher, Ott (interference), 9:34; Ponikarovsky, Pit (slashing), 19:32.

Second Period—4, Ottawa, Kelly 1 (Campoli, Karlsson), 1:20 (pp). 5, Pittsburgh, Malkin 2 (Gonchar, Crosby), 10:22 (pp). 6, Ottawa, Karlsson 1 (Fisher, Cullen), 13:14 (pp). Penalties—Letang, Pit (slashing), 6:41; Regin, Ott (holding), 10:09; Kunitz, Pit (charging), 12:11; Ottawa bench, served by Neil (too many men), 17:53.

Third Period—7, Pittsburgh, Adams 1 (Dupuis, Talbot), 5:16. 8, Ottawa, Ruutu 1 (Neil, Kelly), 9:40. 9, Pittsburgh, Goligoski 1 (Crosby, Malkin), 17:36. Penalties—Spezza, Ott (roughing), :56; Cooke, Pit (roughing), :56; Regin, Ott (holding), 13:26. Shots on Goal—Ottawa 11-8-7—26. Pittsburgh 4-8-9—21. Power-play opportunities—Ottawa 2 of 3; Pittsburgh 2 of 5. Goalies—Ottawa, Elliott 1-0-0 (21 shots-17 saves). Pittsburgh, Fleury 0-1-0 (26-21). A—17,132 (16,940).

Flyers 2, Devils 1: Brian Boucher had 23 saves in his first playoff start in eight years and the Flyers won Game 1 of their series. Chris Pronger and Mike Richards scored goals for the Flyers, who won five of six against the Devils in the regular season. "We're still the underdogs," forward Ian Laperriere said.

First Period—None. Penalties—Salvador, NJ (tripping), 8:26; Timonen, Phi (hooking), 10:28; Timonen, Phi (holding), 19:06.

Second Period—1, Philadelphia, Pronger 1 (Gagne, Richards), 9:25 (pp). 2, Philadelphia, Richards 1 (Laperriere), 16:27. Penalties—Zubrus, NJ (hooking), 8:09.

Third Period—3, New Jersey, Zajac 1 (Greene, Parise), 17:17. Penalties—Bartulis, Phi, double minor (high-sticking), 2:12; Coburn, Phi (delay of game), 8:49; Zubrus, NJ (goaltender interference), 14:16. Shots on Goal—Philadelphia 4-8-2—14. New Jersey 9-6-9—24. Power-play opportunities—Philadelphia 1 of 3; New Jersey 0 of 5. Goalies—Philadelphia, Boucher 1-0-0 (24 shots-23 saves). New Jersey, Brodeur 0-1-0 (14-12). A—17,625 (17,625).

More playoff news: Sabres right wing Drew Stafford (concussion) likely will miss the opening game of their East series against the Bruins tonight. Coach Lindy Ruff said center Tim Connolly (foot) "looks like a go" but forward Jochen Hecht (upper-body injury) is questionable. … Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell returned to practice for the first time since he broke a collarbone and a rib after a hit from Washington's Alex Ovechkin on March 14. He said he didn't have a timetable to return.

Blues: Interim coach Davis Payne, who replaced fired Andy Murray on Jan. 2, had "interim" removed from his title. At 39, he is the league's youngest coach.

Thrashers: Former Lightning general manager Rick Dudley was promoted from associated GM to GM, part of a shakeup in which Don Waddell was moved from GM to team president and coach John Anderson was fired.